This invention relates to liquid ring compressors or vacuum pumps in general and more particularly to an improved housing design for such pumps and compressors.
A liquid ring compressor or vacuum pump with a liquid cooled electric motor for driving the impeller, as well as a liquid separator, wherein the individual components are arranged in adjoining housings which are divided into chambers by partition and in which the housings are connected to each other without piping and sealed to the outside to form a unit which has only four external connections which comprise a gas inlet and outlet and a liquid inlet and outlet, is described in German Auslegeschrift No. 27 31 451.
In the known arrangement, the liquid separator is part of a distributor for gas and operating liquid, designed as the motor housing; its size and spatial relation to the impeller is therefore fixed. In addition, the connections for gas and operating liquid are concentrated at the distributor, so that certain placement and installation problems can result, in running the external piping, and because all parts extend in the direction of the motor shaft. In addition, the size and shape of the liquid separator is made relatively small, so that it is not suitable as a storage tank and for accommodating a heat exchanger, which would be necessary for applications where the operating liquid is recirculated.